Cathy Bland and Mike Willis' first business venture together was a lemonade stand they set up as youngsters in Aiken.
"That was the beginnings of our entrepreneurship and partnership," Willis said.
After almost 35 years of friendship, the childhood neighbors are sharing another milestone: the 13th anniversary of Tea Garden Gifts, their downtown Aiken shop.
They traded in careers as a cost engineer at Savannah River Site and a sales representative to make their dream of owning a business a reality. The partnership is still going strong as the co-owners look to expand their store's offerings and continue to target their niche audience.
Willis is mostly a behind-the-scenes manager, operating the Web site and managing payroll, while Bland is up front, working with customers and completing orders. Their differing talents have helped make the partnership a success, Willis said.
"It works out well because she is good at buying and selling and I am more of the back office -- payroll and taxes, Web site, stuff like that," he said. "The combination of the two works out."
The colorful and cozy store offers items ranging from personalized gifts and luggage to bath products and stationery.
Stationery and bath products are a core part of what Tea Garden Gifts does, Bland said. The shop offers more than 600 styles of invitations to choose from depending on the occasion.
An invitation to a backyard barbecue might warrant a colorful pattern with watermelons, while a wedding invitation might be placed on a more understated background with formal lettering.
Birthday party, graduation announcements and birth announcements also are popular options.
The printed images are bought from outlets throughout the country and customized at the Aiken shop.
The store will celebrate its anniversary with a sale Thursday to Saturday that will include deals, refreshments and giveaways.
Getting started
Bland and Willis stayed friends throughout the years growing up in Aiken, though they didn't talk as much during his college years at the University of South Carolina in Columbia and hers at USC Aiken.
When Willis moved back to town after graduation, they quickly renewed the friendship.
"I pretty much tell everyone that she is like my sister," Willis said.
They decided to purchase Tea Garden Gifts in 1997, after batting around several ideas for a business, including a coffee shop or antique store.
Bland, who was traveling around the state as a sales representative for gift lines, heard that one of her clients -- the owner of Tea Garden Gifts -- was interested in selling the shop.
The timing made sense for Bland, who was recently married and ready to start a family.
The shop opened under the new ownership when Bland was five months pregnant with her daughter Carly.
"We were both interested in having a store downtown and liked the idea of that," Bland said. "We just decided to build on what was already there. We recognized the anchors quickly, which was definitely the stationery and the Crabtree & Evelyn (bath products line) and we just built on our anchors and had fun in between."
Willis continued his job at Savannah River Site as a full-time cost engineer for eight years. During the day, he would tally the costs of SRS projects; at night he would put in hours at the gift shop.
"Mike would come here at night and print invitations," Bland said. "Then we would sit here and figure out, 'OK, well, we've grown so we can hire more people.' At the beginning it was just kind of fun."
The business' early days were challenging but worth the work, Willis said.
"I questioned why I was doing it, but then again it was a lot of fun," said Willis, who has a wife and two stepsons. "For me, I got more satisfaction out of here at the store than at SRS. I saw a final product here. I got to see a customer walk out of here with a bag, with the product in the bag, whereas out there it's like spinning wheels and you never saw a final product."
Bland and Willis expanded the store three years ago when they moved across the street to 131 Laurens St. in downtown Aiken.
Bland said the move allowed them to increase their work space, which they needed for orders. The store now has about as much work room space as retail space.
"We're able to show more product and do more custom invitations -- we have more room," she said. "I think parking is a little easier on this side of the street, too."
When they made the move, they took with them mannequins Eula and Mae, who sit outside the store on a bench most days the shop is open.
Bland said "the girls" were purchased about 10 years ago from a Mississippi shop and they've become quite a talking piece, attracting customers to the store and people eager to take their pictures with the dolls.
"They are definitely store fixtures," she said. "I never thought that they'd be around this long."
Eula and Mae used to go on field trips that included the Steeplechase Ball and an art auction, Bland said. They usually stick closer to home these days.
"I keep thinking that they need to write a book, What I Heard on Laurens Street, " Bland said jokingly.
Keys to success
Bland and Willis said they believe that good customer service is crucial to standing out in the retail business.
Throughout the years, many Tea Garden Gift customers have become like family, Bland said.
The store sees people through many major life events, and customers want invitations to help celebrate those milestones, she said.
"We knew some things were never going to change. For instance, people are always going to be getting married, so they will need paper to celebrate that," Bland said. "People are always going to be having families and want birth announcements.
"We've done wedding invitations, birth announcements and birthday parties all for the same people for 13 years, and that's been a lot of fun to watch. ... You just get to know these people and they become a big part of your life."
As customers trickled in and out of the store on a recent morning, Bland greeted them by name and offered assistance.
One patron, Betsy Anderson, came to the store to review programs for her daughter's June 5 wedding.
"It's the best place in town," said Anderson, who used to work part time at the store. "They're just so personable and very helpful, resourceful and have great ideas."
Through the years, downtown has attracted more businesses, said Willis, who is chairman of the Board of Directors for the Aiken Downtown Development Association.
"It's been fun watching downtown grow in the last 13 years and become a destination to shop," Bland said, as she greeted another customer and attached ribbon to a high school graduation invitation.
Striking a balance between work and home life also has been important for success, she added.
"I've always said you have to have a balance at home to be able to support the hustle and bustle of the store," said Bland, who now has two daughters. "You've got to learn that when you're home you're home, and when you're here you're here. It took us a while to figure that out -- for me it did."
Her sister, Lisa Mitchell, also works at the store.
"There is something different every day," Mitchell said. "There's never a dull moment."
Economic challenges
While there is the occasional difficult mother of the bride, the biggest challenge for Tea Garden Gifts lately has been the economy, which has battered much of the retail sector as consumers cut back on discretionary purchases.
The store has four employees, not including Bland and Willis, and operates Tuesdays through Saturdays.
"I don't know if we can work harder, but we're trying to work smarter," Bland said. "Every day we're trying to find different ways to do things that cost less and make more sense."
The store places its orders either at markets in Atlanta or New York or directly from sales representatives, Bland said.
"We shop for unique lines," she said. "Our stationery is definitely our anchor, so we have a lot of paper sales representatives we work with in the store."
The Crabtree & Evelyn line is one of the store's best-sellers. The line's sales representative visits the store about every six weeks to take inventory and place orders, Bland said.
The line offers lotion, perfume, soap and other beauty items.
Tea Garden also caters to brides, who can register in person or online at the shop's Web site. Monogrammed items are popular, as is the Mariposa line of glassware and dishware.
Brides are a growing part of the business, Bland said.
The company's busiest time of the year is during the fourth quarter, she said, because of the holiday season.
Coming in second would be graduation and wedding season, Bland added. Wedding purchases such as invitations usually begin around February for June nuptials, she said.
Looking ahead
As the business continues past its 13th year, Bland and Willis have several goals.
The partners hope to continue to expand their Internet sales, which Willis said have been growing since they introduced the Web site, www.teagardenofaiken.com/store, about 21/2 years ago.
The site uses a brown-and-pink motif that highlights the merchandise. Users can order products online and also interact with Tea Garden Gifts through a blog, Facebook and Twitter.
Willis and Bland said many of the Web site's customers hail from outside the Southeast, particularly from Texas and California. The site occasionally has specials, and all orders of $75 or more receive free shipping.
Willis, who handles most of the Web site work, said the online sales and interaction with customers is increasingly important to the business, particularly with a still sluggish economy.
"It's getting to be more important especially with the way the economy is," he said. "You need to rely on customers all throughout instead of just local. That makes sense."
The duo also has thought about using their expertise to expand more into the bridal business, Bland said.
"We want to become a one-stop destination, so they come in and order their invitations, their napkins, their programs," she said. "We're toying with the idea of getting into some bridal consulting, helping as little as they want for the whole wedding or as much as."
For example, the shop could provide brides-to-be with references for area florists, bands or reception venues, she said.
Bland said she considers herself a goal-oriented person and likes to start each day with an idea of what she wants to achieve.
"I like goals and I like to say mentally in my head, 'This is what we've got to accomplish today and this is what I'd like to do today,' " Bland said. "I think you've got to have goals. If you don't, you're not driven. We've got to be driving the car toward something."
TITLE: Co-owner of Tea Garden Gifts
BORN: July 28, 1966, Aiken
EDUCATION: Studied English at USC Aiken
FAMILY: Husband, Wally; daughters, Carly, 12, and Natalie Grace, 4
HOBBIES: Her children
Mike Willis
TITLE: Co-owner of Tea Garden Gifts
BORN: April 5, 1967, Aiken
EDUCATION: University of South Carolina, 1989, double major in finance and marketing
FAMILY: Wife, Beverly; stepsons, Sumter, 11, and Jackson, 8
CIVIC: Chairman of board of directors for Downtown Aiken Development Association, member of Rotary Club
HOBBIES: Playing cards, visiting the beach/lake
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
Back 
